Jit Samaroo's Portraits in Steel
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Mini Series Part One Friday July 15th, 2016
WHAT IS PANORAMA MUSIC?
Panorama Music is an extended steelband arrangement of the melody of a calypso, which is originally about ninety seconds to two minutes long. When fully exploited, these can be melodious, rhythmic, interesting and challenging.
The structure of a typical arrangement includes an introduction, statement of the melody, harmonic, motivic and melodic developments, changes of key, changes of rhythm, modulations, improvisations and a finale.
Born and bred in Surrey Village in the verdant valley of Lopinot in Trinidad’s northern range, Jit Sukha Samaroo (February 24th 1950 to January 7th 2016), the ‘Pied Piper’, etched many portraits in steel before he and Pat Bishop transitioned into the great beyond.
Nevertheless, others continue to advocate vehemently for the Steelpan to be universally recognized as the most significant definite-pitch acoustic percussion instrument today.
Jit combined with Renegades Steel Orchestra to win the coveted title of ‘Panorama Champions’ nine times, including the hat-trick (1995-1997).
With its convex shape and note layout, the lead Steelpan resembles the watermelon, a juicy tropical fruit containing seeds arrayed like notes.
Serendipitously, the watermelon has manifested itself on the substrate of a fossilised sugar cane stalk in a painting entitled ‘La Isla’ by Cuban grandmaster Jose Omar Torres as being symbols of the Steelpan and ‘One Caribbean Voice’.